Plump, juicy, and bursting with healthy antioxidants, tomatoes are at their peak during the summer. Learn what to look for when choosing a tomato.

Taste is what makes a vine-ripened summer tomato worth the wait. Available for only a few short months at limited locales — heaped in baskets at farm stands, pyramided beneath "locally grown" signs at the supermarket, plucked from backyard staked plants — their once-a-year flavor deserves a frequent rotation in your August dinner lineup.

Unlike imported pretenders, which are harvested early to withstand the rigors of long-distance transport, in-season tomatoes stay in the sun until they achieve an ideal balance of sugars and acids — and nutrients. A single tomato, with just 36 calories and as much fiber as a slice of whole wheat bread, delivers half the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C and a quarter of vitamin A. But the nearly 500 varieties cultivated by farmers and suburban gardeners today can be more than just a divine slice-and-eat side dish.

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Combined with a few simple ingredients, tomatoes can be transformed into no-fuss, filling suppers. Choose your favorites — from classic cherries and beefsteaks to hybrids and heirlooms — and in minutes you'll be serving up family-friendly dishes as luscious as they are colorful.

Top Tomato Tips

1. Select firm tomatoes with unblemished skin, a red wine–like aroma, and vibrant color that's lighter at the stem end than at the bottom. The color gradation is a sign that the tomato has ripened naturally, rather than artificially with ethylene gas — which usually results in a telltale uniform color. Keep in mind that with heirlooms, which can be pink, yellow, black, purplish, or even green when they hit their flavor peak, redness doesn't necessarily equal ripeness.

2. Store tomatoes stem-side up, away from heat or sunlight, and use them within four days. Don't refrigerate: At temperatures below 55 degrees, the water in the tomato expands and the sugars convert to starch, creating an unpleasant mealy texture — and most fridges are set at a brisk 40 degrees or below.

3. Peel off the tomato's skin before canning or making a sauce, since it can toughen during long cook times. The best removal method: Submerge the tomato in boiling water for 15 seconds, then pop it in a bowl of ice water to cool — the skin should slip right off when you cut away the core.